Everything is perfect. With Sam being neutralized, hopefully in tomorrow's game I can do enough to throw him off in such a way that he will be eliminated from the game. Not that he's not great to have around. I just need to send a guy home this time. Wanna try and even out the numbers. I chose him at random, nothing personal but if I can make the neutralization work in my favor, so much the better.

The Mole

That evening, everyone was on tender hooks. Quinn and Blaine both had exemptions for the execution the following night. It was likely one might be offered at the game tomorrow but maybe not because two people already had one and it wouldn't be fair to dwindle the chances of everyone else even more. Will gave them their answer at dinner.

"Seeing as one exemption was handed out and another was earned, there will be no chance to earn an exemption in the game tomorrow." They all looked at him, a few not necessarily happy with this information. Santana and Puck shot jealous looks Blaine's way as he had merely been given an exemption out of the blue because the mole decided to give him one. It made no difference to Sam because seeing as he was neutralized, he couldn't get one anyway. Not for this execution.

It was quiet for several moments before Will spoke again.

"Tonight, everyone is to go directly to their rooms and stay there. If any of you are caught in another player's room, five thousand dollars will be deducted from the pot and you get the shame of knowing you were penalized at everyone else's expense." He smiled around at them all, hoping they would heed the warning. "Have a good night."

As it turned out, though they badly didn't want to cost anymore money from the pot, two people were restless in being separated from each other and one of them ultimately broke the rules.

The next morning at breakfast, Will folded his hands across the table and frowned slightly. "I'm afraid I have a little bit of bad news. It seems that two of you could not stand to be apart and the camera caught one of you in the other's room after you were specifically told to stay in your own rooms. Therefore, five thousand dollars will be taken from the pot, bringing it down to seventy-six thousand dollars. However, I will spare you the humiliation of having the others know it was you," he said with a subtle knowing look in the direction of two very guilty men.

"Thanks a lot Anderson," Santana spat. Blaine raised an eyebrow and stared at her like he didn't know what she was talking about.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"Cut the crap. We all know it was you and lady Hummel getting your freak on last night." She threw the two of them a smirk. Kurt held his head high, nose in the air as Blaine flushed right down to the collar.

"As if you have reason to talk. Don't think I didn't hear you and Brittany next door the noght before her execution," Kurt replied cooly. Santana paled.

"Is this true Santana?" The Latina bit her lip and nodded slowly. Will sighed. "Due to game rules, that is another five thousand dollars taken from the pot, dropping you down to seventy-one thousand dollars."

Santana glared at Kurt. "Mole!" she shouted pointing at him. "You ratted me out to add more money to your bank!"

Kurt opened his mouth to retort when Will cut him off. "No Santana. You were in violation of a direct game rule for after curfew visitation. Due to that, the money taken from the pot will not go to the mole whoever they may be. It's a rule violation penalty. Nobody gets that five thousand dollars."

The whole table was quiet for several long moments.

Well shit, even I wasn't told that, the mole thought. Thank you Kurt for unintentionally teaching us all a lesson.

Will seemed to think that now was the time to get things back on track and ready for the next game. "Okay, I need you to split into two groups of four. One group with good memories and one group who just wants to hang around."

As usual they conversed among themselves before dividing into two groups and separating from each other.

"So which group are my good memory people?" Hands were raised. "Okay, Kurt, Quinn, Sam, and Mercedes are my good memory people. That means Puck, Santana, Finn, and Blaine, you guys just want to hang around?" They all nodded. "All right then, if you will all follow me."

He lead them all out of the hotel and they piled into cars. Some minutes later, they arrived at a bridge overlooking a river and piled out again. Will clapped his hands together.

"People with good memories, I'd like you to go up that way," he pointed up a path to where there was a sort of lookout building. "Wait for me up there. Those who just want to hang come with me." As the memory people headed up to the lookout, Will took the other four down to the bridge where they noticed a man equipped with harnesses and a zip line like wire. The four of them were starting to get an idea of what was going on.

Will shook hands with the man before turning back to the players.

"Puck, Santana, Finn, and Blaine, you all decided you wanted to just hang. Well that is exactly what you're going to do. One at a time, the four of you will be harnessed and hung out over the river. Whether you end up swinging or climbing back onto the bridge as a way of getting down depends on those with good memories." They all let out gasps of surprise and knowing. "As one of you will be hung, I will ask one of your friends back at the lookout by way of this walkie talkie a question about the group. If they get it right, they'll earn a thousand dollars and you won't have to swing. If they get wrong, guess what?"

"We're swinging," Blaine said. Will nodded.

"However, if they get it right and you decide to swing anyway, I will give you another five thousand dollars." So really after a right answer it was a test of how brave the four of them were. And how bad they want the money. "Puck, you're first."

Santana, Finn, and Blaine all clapped their hands and cheered him on as Puck was harnessed up and moved to hang out over the river.

Will turned on the walkie talkie. "Quinn can you hear me?"

"Yes I can hear you," Quinn's voice came through from the other end.

"Puck is hanging out over the river. Can you see him?"

"Yes."

"Okay Quinn, listen to me very carefully. I am going to ask you a question about the remaining players. If you get it right, Puck can climb back onto the bridge to safety and you'll earn one thousand dollars for the pot. If you get it wrong, he's going to swing and you earn nothing. Are you ready Quinn?"

Up at the lookout the blonde swallowed and nodded her head. "Ready," she said into the walkie talkie.

"Okay, here is your question Quinn. Who is from San Francisco, California?"

Quinn lapsed into thought. That was a pretty good question because three of the remaining players were all from California. She had to remember who. Okay, I know Blaine is from California as it's good for him because he's gay. Mercedes is a backup singer but that doesn't mean she's from California but I think so. And Puck plays football for a California team but I can't remember which and it doesn't mean he's necessarily living in the city he's originally from. This is confusing but I think I got it. San Francisco is a very gay friendly community so...

"I'm going to go with Blaine," she said finally.

"That is correct Quinn," Will replied. The girl cheered. "Well done, that's one thousand dollars added to the pot. Puck, you have a decision to make. Do you want to climb back over or are you going to go ahead and swing anyway?"

Puck didn't hesitate. "Oh I'm swinging baby! Let's do it!"

"Let it rip!" Will said and Puck was released. They all watched him drop and swing out over the river, cheering and whooping as he went. "That's another five thousand dollars added to the group pot."

Santana was next up to be harnessed and Sam was up to answer a question.

"How you doing up there Sam?" Will asked. The blonde man watched Santana turn her head from where she was hanging and give him a look as if to tell him he had better not mess this up. He swallowed hard and raised the walkie talkie to reply to Will.

"As good as I can be. Glad it's not me hanging out there."

"Shut it trouty mouth!" Santana shouted through the walkie talkie on Will's end. She was still watching him over her shoulder, feet dangling in the air.

"Okay Sam, here is your question. "Whose original career goal was to be in musical theater?"

Sam's brain short circuited. He knew that he knew this one but it got confusing because Rachel had been in musical theater and that was obviously her original career goal but she was gone. The question applied to someone still there and though he knew he should know this one, he couldn't put his finger on it. He just couldn't remember the answer. Had it ever been given out in passing conversation or was it something that could be blatantly obvious?

"Uh..." Sam's brain was not helping him right than. "I'm going to go out on a limb here and say Blaine because of his musical background." Though Sam couldn't see it, Blaine face palmed. Santana shook her head.

"I'm sorry Sam," Will replied. "That is incorrect." Sam scolded himself. "The correct answer is Kurt. Which means Santana, you're going for a swing." And with that, Santana let out a scream as she was dropped, sailing down through the air and out over the river.

Finn was next in the hot seat while Kurt was waiting up at the lookout with his walkie talkie. Finn tensed a bit as he hung out over the river. He shot a glance at Kurt, willing him with his eyes to get this right.

"Are you ready Kurt?" Will asked.

"Fire away!" Kurt said, confidence in his voice. He knew enough about everyone to know he could get this. He was prepared for whatever was thrown his way.

"Okay Kurt, which two of the remaining players are twenty-three years old?"

Down on the ground, Santana stood next to Puck and rolled her eyes. This was the easiest question ever. No way someone with as good a memory as Kurt could miss it. Then again, everyone else knew the answer to Sam's question was Kurt so why had Sam gotten it wrong? Unless he had done it on purpose. It really could be anyone who was the mole. But after a few things, Santana had her top two suspects, though she did remember that Kurt said once he didn't cope too well under pressure, depending on what he was under pressure for. Would this be one of those situations?

Kurt made the mistake of not taking a moment to think about his answer and instead of taking a breath to recover the information, which he knew he very well knew, he blurted out the first two names that popped into his head. "Mercedes and Santana," he said instantly clapping a hand to his mouth and cursing under his breath. He knew that was wrong. He hadn't been prepared to be given the easiest question of the lot. He had been prepared for something harder and the incredibly easy question had thrown him off. "Shit," he spat into the walkie talkie. He was going to have to make up for this now.

"I'm sorry Kurt," Will said. "That is incorrect. The correct answer is Sam and Blaine." Kurt cursed again. He knew that. He [i]knew[/i] it. So why the hell had his brain spat out Mercedes and Santana? "Finn, you're taking a swing." A yelp left the tall man's mouth as he was released and dropped out over the river.

Blaine was last to take the harness. He was also the only one brave enough to focus his eyes on the river down below as he hung there. Even Puck hadn't done that. Mercedes was in position on the lookout, ready to save Blaine from imminent doom.

"Okay Mercedes, you get this right, Blaine will not have to drop. Are you ready?"

"Ready," Mercedes replied in a determined voice. She too was starting to wonder how both Sam and Kurt had gotten their questions wrong. They were the easiest asked so far. Both of them instantly moved up on her suspect list, though she still didn't count either as her number one.

"Who is afraid of heights?" Will asked her.

Mercedes took a breath to think this over. It couldn't be any of those who were hanging around. Though none of them had known what they were doing, it was fair to say the hanging had a different meaning than what one would first think. And then she remembered something that had been said by one of the other three in her group while it had been their turn to answer a question. That should be enough indication. But it didn't mean that they were afraid of heights. Maybe just that they didn't think they'd try the swinging thing.

She drew another breath, willing her heart to stop pounding out of her chest. This was it. Whether Blaine swung or not rided on her answer. She had to get this right for his sake. And then maybe he would swing anyway.

"Sam," she said after several moments.

"Mercedes," Will said and paused a beat for effect. "That is correct!" The girl let out a relieved breath and Blaine clapped appreciatively. "That's another thousand dollars in the pot, bringing your collective total for this game seven thousand dollars so far. Blaine, are you going to swing anyway or just climb back over to safety?"

Blaine seemed to think about it for a moment but he really didn't want to be seen as the coward for being the only one who didn't swing. Besides, he wanted to make up for losing the group more money still.

"Let her swing," he said a moment later, wrapping his hands around the wire tightly. Will gave a nod and Blaine was released. He let out a cheerful yell as he dropped down toward the river.

A few minutes later, all right of them congregated back in the area where the car had let them off.

"Well done. That was two right answers and two volunteer jumps out of a possible four. Out of a total twenty-four thousand dollars to be earned from this game, you banked twelve thousand. The group pot now stands at eighty-three thousand dollars." Cheers and claps went up among them. "Now before we head back to the hotel to prepare for tonight's execution, I'm going to give you one more chance to bank some more money." He looked at the four who were answering the questions. "Kurt, Mercedes, Sam, and Quinn, for every one of you who volunteers to swing, I will add another five thousand dollars to the pot."

Kurt didn't need to think twice. This was his chance to redeem himself for his very poor answer. "I'll do it," he said quickly. The whole rest of them looked at him in surprise. Even though Sam was the one afraid of heights, Kurt was the one they least expected would actually go through with it.

"Me too," Quinn said when they had gotten over the shock. Will nodded and looked at Mercedes and Sam who both shook their heads.

"Quinn, Kurt, come with me. The rest of you wait here." Will lead the way back up to the bridge. "Kurt, you were the first to volunteer so you will be going first." Kurt nodded and allowed the man to harness him up for the swing.

The pale man shot a thumbs up over at the group still standing on the ground, the lot of them watching the bridge carefully, mostly to see if both of them would actually go through with it.

"You ready Kurt?" Will asked? Kurt nodded. "Let her rip!" Will cried. Kurt was released and he shut his eyes tight as the wind blasted him in the face while he dropped. He was able to let out a bit of a squeal, which was rather embarrassing but other than that, found that he had left his voice back at the top. Quinn was watching him drop, biting her lip.

"It looks a lot less scary from far away," she said as Will helped her climb over so the man could strap her into the harness.

"Having second thoughts? It's not too late to back out you know," Will replied. Quinn shook her head.

"No, I'm going to do it. I have an exemption so I really have nothing to lose tonight. Doesn't mean I don't want to put as much money in the pot as possible. If I do this, I will have single-handedly added forty-six thousand dollars to the pot in the last two days."

Will grinned. "That's good enough to knock you to the bottom of everyone's suspect list."

"Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing," Quinn replied. "It has both pros and cons." She took a breath. "All right. I'm ready. Do it before I change my mind."

Will nodded. "You heard her." Quinn was released and she let out an earsplitting scream as she dropped.

"Damn she can scream," Puck said. Kurt threw him a look.

"I'll just pretend you didn't just let out an innuendo," the pale man said, trying to fix his hair from the messy way the wind had blown it.

Will and Quinn both joined rejoined them and Will smiled around at them all. "Since Kurt and Quinn both jumped, ten thousand dollars will be added to the pot. That brings your total to ninety-three thousand dollars, I say you've had a very successful two days of work." They all cheered. "And now is the time to return to the hotel and prepare for tonight's execution."

They all piled back into the cars and headed back for the hotel with Santana rethinking the idea that Kurt could be the mole. Seeing as he had volunteered to swing, she figured his pressure had gotten to him and he hadn't gotten that question wrong on purpose. He dropped again on her suspect list but just for the time being. Sam raised a little higher.

"Welcome to your third execution dinner," Will said as they all dined that night. "First of all, I want those of you who are safe tonight to leave your bags packed as we're leaving in the morning. Blaine, Quinn, this means you will still have to pack your bags. Secondly," he held up his wine glass, "A toast to you all and to whomever leaves us tonight. Blaine and Quinn, you both have exemptions and cannot be executed tonight. Good luck to all of you."

One by one the players went in to take the quiz, ten questions about the mole.

Question one: Which group was the mole in during the wine and dice game?

Question two: In what position did the mole roll the die for their task in the wine and dice game?

Question three: How many wine bottles did the mole fill in the wine and dice game?

Question four: Did the mole complete their task in the wine and dice game?

Question five: Did the mole earn an exemption?

Question six: In the hanging on a question game, did the mole answer their question correctly?

Question seven: Did the mole swing in the hanging on a question game?

Question eight: In what order did the mole swing or answer their question in the hanging on a question game?

Question nine: Did the mole have white or red wine at the execution dinner tonight?

Question ten: Who is the mole?

When all the players had taken the quiz, results were locked in and ready to go.

The players made their way into the ballroom where Will was sitting at a table with a laptop in front of him. The TV screen with the logo was behind him as usual. Their bags were all packed and ready to go.

"Good evening. Welcome to your third execution. The person who scored the lowest on the quiz will be executed. In the event of a tie, the person who answered the questions the slowest will be executed. In a moment, I will begin entering your names into the computer. If the screen turns green, you remain in the game. However, if the screen turns red, you are the mole's third victim. You will have to take your bag and leave the game immediately. Blaine, Quinn, the two of you have exemptions and cannot be executed tonight. Let's begin. Tonight we do have a tie. Would anyone like to go first?"

"I'll go first," Santana said after a moment. Will nodded.

"Santana."

She watched him type her name into the computer and hit the enter key. They all sat back and waited. The screen flashed green. Santana nodded relief, a knowing smile on her face.

"Kurt."

As with the last execution, Blaine took a hold of Kurt's hand and squeezed it gently. Kurt threw him a grateful smile. Will typed Kurt's name into the computer and hit enter. They waited the few tense moments of silence. The screen flashed green. Kurt visibly relaxed, giving Blaine's hand a squeeze. They had both survived three executions so far, even if each got by on an exemption for one of them.

"Mercedes."

The girl drew a deep breath and held it as her name was typed into the computer. Will hit the enter key. Tense moments of silence filled the air once more. The screen flashed green and Mercedes looked like she could cry with happiness.

"Sam."

Sam's whole body tensed, knowing that the mole's neutralization of him would have done the trick if he were sent home. It seemed to take hours for Will to type in his short name and hit enter. He stared hard at the logo on the TV.

The screen flashed red.

"Sam, grab your bag and come with me," Will said as he got up from the table. Sam picked up his bag and followed Will out to the awaiting car. A few people were looking on in shock and surprise. "You've played the game well Sam. We'll miss you."

Sam laughed. "Obviously not well enough if I couldn't keep myself in the game even with the neutralization hanging over my head," he replied. "I had an execellent time though. Good memories."

Will smiled as he opened the door for him and he climbed in. "Good-bye!" Will said as Sam waved while the car drove off.

Another successful execution as my chosen target has gone. Now, who's next?